Why Feeling Static in Your Life is Just A Social Media Illusion

It’s
the feeling of nothing happening. Nothing is changing. Not for the good, but
not necessarily for the bad either. You just are stuck in the unwavering
stability of merely existing. There’s an unease I know we all feel when nothing
is currently happening in this moment. There are no important events occurring
in your life, yet they seem to be happening to literally everyoneelse
around you.

I
often feel this way as I am staring into my phone screen, religiously watching
Friends on my Netflix app from “The One Where it All Began,” all the way to
“The Last One.” Then, in-between breaks, I check my Facebook feed and friends
are being accepted into graduate schools, travelling across various European
cities, revealing their new dream job offer, or posting pictures of them moving
to a new city. And here I am wondering how it is that I could forget the
episode where Phoebe was married to a gay ice dancer.

It’s
then, as I’m absorbed in my show, something that isn’t terribly rewarding as
far as life achievements go, that I wonder why the world seems to be moving
without me. It’s like I’m standing in the middle of a street and the sidewalks,
streetlights, and all the people around me are on a travolator being propelled
forward. And they’re just passing right by me.

I’m
just idle.

I’m
not presently writing an award-winning script. I’m not working on a project. I
can’t afford to travel. I’m still in school pursuing my undergraduate degree. I
don’t have a new job that aligns with my career goals. All the pictures I post
on all my social media accounts are of my three monster animals and their
outrageous behavior or evidence of how I thought my makeup looked good that day.
I’m not doing anything, but watching everyone else around me do. I’m not moving.

Or
at least, I feel like I’m not moving.

Is
it that I feel like I’m not accomplishing anything or is it that I am just oversaturated
with the good news? Am I not supplied with enough of the boring things, which
if were actually detailed, would undoubtedly make me feel more in tune with my
peers? More of an equal?

The
boring stuff is just the in-between moments that no one ever talks about. No
one posts on their social media accounts that they just unloaded the
dishwasher. Unless there’s something extremely out of the ordinary or
marginally interesting and/or humorous about that moment you put the glassware
in the correct cupboard, it’s just not mentioned. And when I’m sitting here
scrolling through my friends list and I see what I perceive to be my friend’s major
accomplishments, I need to remember that those same people also have these in-between
moments too. Yes, they were just promoted today, but yesterday they were
walking their dog too. And they’ll walk their dog again today and maybe they’ll
follow it up with a Game of Thrones binge fest alone in their apartment, like
me.

So
when I’m sitting there, overanalyzing how my current static state is making me
stir-crazy, I’ll remember that the in-between moments are just as important as
all the other ones, because they lead up to all the big ones. Just because
something isn’t happening right this moment, doesn’t mean that it won’t happen
in the near future. As long as you’re working towards those moments, they will
come. When everyone else and their mom seems like they’re doing something so
beyond what I’m doing right now, I need to remember that when everyone appears
like they’re going somewhere with all the cool and notable moments in their
life, we’re all just moving at different paces and sometimes it looks better
on-screen. I hope you can remember that, too, when you’re feeling like life has
left you behind.

XO,
Ariel

Why Feeling Static in Your Life is Just A Social Media Illusion
Reviewed by Ariel Sullivan
on
Friday, March 25, 2016
Rating: 5

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Ariel Reverie

My name is R-E-L and I am not a mermaid. My parents actually claim my name derived from REO Speedwagon and not the Disney movie that predated my birth, but they often like to tell stories. I am a Colorado native who enjoys film, poetry, screenwriting, photography, design, music, and religiously watching an assortment of television series. I am one half of a set of twins and I usually bring that up to make interesting conversation.